MARCUS: Alright Jonty, I don’t know about you, but I’m bloody excited for this. It’s been the talk of the town all week. Who’s going to be replacing Dave on this week’s LTS pod? I’ve heard conversations in Pakenham coffee shops, it’s just been going nuts. But I’m so proud to announce we’ve got a man with 26 years of photography experience for this company under his belt. Our readers would see him every weekend out on the road taking photos.
JONTY: He’s an icon. You go sports and when you tell people you work for the Gazette, people ask “Is Stew still there?” He’s part of the furniture around the place.
MARCUS: He probably picks up more stories than we do, honestly. It’s Stewy Chambers! Stew, welcome to LTS!
STEW: Thanks! I actually thought it was going to be ‘Holty’ (Marc Holt) or Ange Banbury, but here I am.
MARCUS: He’s off to a flyer already.
DAVE’S ABSENCE
MARCUS: We’ll get into your career in a second, but the reason you’re here is that our fearless leader Dave Nagel is off celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary with his lovely wife, Kellie. I think it would be remiss of us not to have a bit of fun at his expense. What sort of romantic gestures do you think Dave’s got up his sleeve, Jonty?
JONTY: It’ll be interesting. I know that when he’s gone away with Kellie before that they’ve ended up at the races or a footy ground at Wangaratta, or something like that. So is he going to be able to hold back that sporting love and put the love of his wife first, do you reckon?
MARCUS: I’m under the impression that they did a tour of the Adelaide Oval this weekend.
STEW: I reckon he’d take a picnic rug down the middle of a vineyard aisle, pack some cheezels and a bottle of red wine.
MARCUS: I want a bit more. If we’re in the vineyard, I want a little campfire as the sun goes down. I want him strumming a ukulele, and I want him singing “total eclipse of the heart” as the sun goes down, surrounded by roses and flowers.
STEW: So long as he’s not singing “April sun in Cuba” like ‘ScoMo’.
MARCUS: I think Dave would make a much better Prime Minister than Scott Morrison, that’s for sure.
STEW: Vote 1: Dave Nagel
STEW’S CAREER
MARCUS : Let’s talk about your career, Stew. You’re into your 26th year of photography here at Star. Who are some of your favourite athletes that come to mind that you’ve photographed, or some of your favourite photos you’ve taken over the years, and why?
STEW: I like taking photos of Chris ‘Tubsy’ O’Hara, he’s an icon of Casey-Cardinia cricket. I think he’s finished three grand finals with catches in the deep, so Cody Miller has a bit of work to do to catch that great effort. The Bright brothers, they’ve been good. And for footy, it’s guys like Jason Wells, Mal McKenna. They’re full-forwards that like sticking their tongue and celebrating with the fingers and waving their arms around.
JONTY: What about moments. Have there been some moments, whether it’s of those guys, or on a grand final day, which always produces plenty of storylines, have there been moments or days that you just pinch yourself that you get to take photos?
STEW: I love going to the footy and cricket every week. It doesn’t matter where I’m at.
MARCUS: Have there been any players that you’ve photographed, maybe as teenagers or up-and-comers coming through the ranks that have gone on to be stars, that you kind of discovered, or ones that you got to before they became mainstream? You tell that great Dale Thomas story.
STEW: I photographed him at Gippy Power when he got drafted. They did the press conference and all that and it was all wrapping up. Mick Malthouse shut the whole thing down and I said “I’ve got to get a photo first.” He said “Where are you from?” And I said “The Pakenham Gazette”. He looks at me and says “The Pakenham Gazette, hey?” And ‘Daisy’ goes “Yeah that’s one of my local papers!” So we got a photo and away we went. I knew ‘Daisy’ was a good one. Ellie Blackburn too, from the Western Bulldogs in the AFLW. She’s from Beaconsfield.
JONTY: Lucky it wasn’t Ross Lyon or he would’ve asked for your name and asked you to assess your career choice. That would’ve been quite brilliant. What about the relationships you form with people? I know when I go down to sport and I know the others would be the same, Stewart Chambers is the name that people talk about and they associate with the Gazette. It’s inexorable. Who are some of the people you enjoyed forming close relationships with and how much do you enjoy that side of it?
STEW: I love it. Just being on the other side of the fence, people like ‘Windows’ down at Cora Lynn.
MARCUS: Windows? What’s his actual name?
STEW: Ray Payne. There’s also Ron and Beryl Banbury down at Catani, they’re always good value. Ron ‘Pommy’ Bright down at cricket. Frank Johnson from Cranbourne, Kylie Pippicelli from Nar Nar Goon.
JONTY: We’ve spoken before about Catani having one of the best canteens. What are some of your favourite grounds to take photos at?
STEW: I like the ‘Cobra Dome’ at Cora Lynn because you get nice clear backgrounds, so it’s good for photos. Tooradin, Kooweerup is good, there’s a good atmosphere there. And Park Oval, that’s awesome. You feel like you’re about to get cleaned up by a ball. It feels like you’re on the field. Cardinia Cricket Ground is a nice oval to shoot at too.
MARCUS: I have a moment where if a good line or good lead comes into my head when I’m not at my desk, and I go, “that’s it!” And I have to stop whatever I’m doing to write it down. Do you have a similar moment where you take a shot and realise, this is going to be a front-pager?
STEW: Yeah, you know as soon as you’ve got it. Glen ‘Sunny’ Wouters took an absolute ‘speccie’ for Pakenham down at, Langwarrin I think, in the dying moments of the game. He went back and kicked the goal and I thought, gee that’s a good photo. You know as soon as you’ve got it. You just hope it’s in focus. That’s the scary part.
LOCAL HEROES MAKING THEIR MARK
MARCUS: We’re going to pivot and look at some locals on the big stage, on the back of Ash Chandrasinghe carrying his bat for Victoria in the first innings of the Sheffield Shield final last week. Who are some other local athletes we’ve seen dominate on the big stage?
STEW: Rahni Samason, Doveton premiership player who plays at Melbourne Vixens. She had a leg injury preseason but she’s right in the mix at Goal-Attack and Goal Shooter. She brings a bit of an x-factor to the Vixens’ lineup.
JONTY: I’ll give you three. First, there’s Nathan Ephraums in the field hockey, one of those niche sports that we don’t dedicate heaps of time to on the sports desk, unfortunately. He’s a really exciting young striker. He was part of the hockey World Cup squad earlier in the month with and scored plenty of goals, to really establish himself in the Australian lineup. From a cricket perspective, Harkirat Bajwa from Narre Warren. Mystery spinner, represented Australia in the under 19s and done really well. And on Doveton, James and Darren Pattinson are both Doveton boys who have played test cricket. ‘Jimmy’ for Australia and Darren a one-test wonder for England.
MARCUS: I can only imagine the chaos in the Dandenong Journal newsroom the day that Darren Pattinson was plucked from obscurity to make his England debut. I’ve got two. Laetisha Scanlan from Berwick. She’s won three goals at Commonwealth Games level, in 2010, 2014 and 2018, she just missed out on a Bronze medal in Tokyo when she finished fourth, and also finished fifth in trap shooting in 2016. And I’m going to go back in time here. It doesn’t get much bigger than the Olympic Games, and in 1896…
JONTY: WOW! Look at this research. I’m not sure Dave would approve of this.
MARCUS: 1896, at the first ever Olympic Games in Athens. Edwin Flack, who the football ground at Berwick is named after, and has a statue in the main street, was the first Australian to compete at an Olympic Games, and won the 800 metre and 1500 metre track events. But there were no gold medals awarded back then, because it was the first edition of the games as we know them. He was nicknamed ‘The Lion of Athens’ at the time, by the spectators.
JONTY: That’s almost top of the top in terms of, you look back at the history of Let’s Talk Sport, this has got to be one of the best things that’s ever been brought in if you look at the research. Outstanding. It’s not normally like this, Stew. Bec Henderson deserves a shoutout as a local walker from Berwick. She’s competed and done well at the Commonwealth Games.
FOOTY AWAITS
MARCUS: Lastly we’re going to flip the table on last week’s topic. We discussed what we’re going to miss about cricket season, but what are we looking forward to about footy season?
JONTY: How will Cranbourne go in 2023 in the Southern League as reigning premiers, is what I’m keen to see. Obviously they lost Marc Holt up forward, we know that, but they’ve got a lot of players coming back from injury who did miss out on the 2022 premiership so I’m curious to see how they insert themselves into the lineup. I’m sure that’s going to ensure that the hunger is still there, but it’s going to be a matter of them blending in with the rest of the team.
STEW: I’m not looking forward to the Hawks this year. But I am excited to get back to the grounds, the crowds, the canteens.
JONTY: What’s the go-to canteen order for you? And are there grounds that give you food for free?
STEW: We can’t declare that knowledge. But when I drive all the way to Inverloch and I miss out on a ham and salad roll, I’m a bit shattered. They do a great ham and salad roll. Go-to canteen option, I try be a bit healthy and go for something with lettuce in it, then get into the hot chips when it gets cold.
MARCUS: I didn’t cover footy last year, so I’m looking forward to being in the local footy circle, for starters. But I’m excited for Noble Park v Rowville in the Eastern Footy League grand final rematch in round one. I spoke to Steve Hughes last week about Noble and they’ve done some serious recruiting. To kick off the season with that in round one is going to have local footy fans absolutely frothing at the mouth.
JONTY: As will the Cheltenham v Cranbourne grand final rematch on Good Friday in a stand-alone game.
MARCUS: Well that concludes another episode. Stew, thanks so much for joining us, and you’re welcome back any time.
STEW: If you need a token old bloke who’s older than Dave and Kylie Minogue, then I’m your man!
